The three methods of doing mission, namely conquista, accommodation, kenosis need to be seen not so much as historical events that took place in a particular time and space, but rather as deeply engraved mind structures and personal attitudes as we confront many of the modern time issues such as mass poverty and its relationship to the churches, interreligious and ecumenical dialogue, relationship with Islam, Catholic education in public institutions, moral and ethical problems regarding the treatment of embryos for eugenic purposes, issues concerning the end of life, social debate on alternative lifestyles and the role of women in ecclesial institutions, to mention but a few.

"In [this book] the author invites readers to look at the particular missionary method developed by a small group of Korean Christians during the last quarter of the 18th century. That Korean missionary method of two hundred years ago is proposed as a model for mission in the third millennium."--Page 18-19.

The book is a manifesto or apologia for Chinese Christians. It seeks to articulate how it is possible to maintain a Chinese identity and a Christian identity at the same time without capitulating to some western or other cultural model of Christian identity. To be a Chinese Christian is to adopt a distinctive, unique identity that owes much to both traditions but is sui generis. Providing great resources for the construction of a Chinese Christian theology, Confucius and Paul converge across a surprisingly broad front. Yet, the Christ of the Cross completes or extends what is merely implicit or absent in Confucius; and Confucius amplifies various elements of Christian faith (e.g., community, virtues) that are underplayed in western Christianity. The Christ of God as found in Paul's letter to the Galatians brings Confucian ethics in the Analects to its fulfillment while protecting the church from the aberrations of Chinese history and while protecting China against the aberrations of Christian history in the west. Chinese Christianity has something to give the church that needs to be heard. China can develop its distinctive vision of Christianity for the sake of the church universal. Chinese Christianity will have its global mission if it can find its own authentic Chinese-Christian identity. Insofar as that identity brings the best of the Confucian tradition into the Christian story, it will help revivify global Christianity.